If Ian Moore seems happy to have the "guitar god" status stripped off his name, you have to realize that it's been out of necessity for the multi-faceted songwriter.
During his formative years in Austin, Texas, Moore was introduced to the music world as the newest guitar hero who could potentially replace Stevie Ray Vaughan atop the echelon of Texas-bred electric blues heroes. The problem was, Moore had a penchant for the less traditional and more quirky.
Though heavily rooted in the histrionics of explosive guitar riffing, from the beginning, Moore sought to escape the pigeonhole he found himself in.
"I was really limited with what record companies thought was good product," Moore said in a phone interview from a Seattle airport. "I realized that they didn't have my best interest in mind. That was just the marketing plan. I don't like anything that's on the radio, so I don't want to sound like that."
Though Moore was a mainstay in the Austin circuit, it seems as though he constantly fought with what the scene expected of him. He parted ways with Capricorn Records, which had released two of his studio albums and one live album, after Moore and Capricorn President Phil Walden clashed over his new material. Walden had his idea of Moore's sound and Moore seemed to want to go, well, anywhere else.
Much of that leftover material saw the light of day with Moore's release of . And all the colors . last year, on his own Hablador Records, and after he had left the fishbowl-like confines of Austin for the green grass of the Pacific Northwest.
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"There was a lot of people moving to Austin with an idea of what it should sound like," Moore said. "People who come to my shows now have a different plethora of what they consider good or bad music. It's like when Jimi Hendrix went to London; it was sort of freeing for him and it unlocked a lot of doors."
So, a liberated Moore and new backing band, the Action Company, recorded the stellar Via Satellite, a one-take live album recorded at the Fabulous Satellite Lounge in Houston, Texas, which sees Moore at his electric best.
Included are the dirty boogie of one of his earliest hits, "Diablito," which cuts to a portion of "Personal Jesus," by Depeche Mode and a cover of the Sam Cooke gem, "Wash Away My Troubles," which features Moore's often ignored vocal range, including his stunning falsetto.
"I definitely think I captured the electric show," Moore said. "Part of the reason I wanted to do it was to close a chapter. You can feel the energy and hear a lot of new influences."
Moore said his new music will be "orchestral," but not in the sense that people might first consider.
"Orchestral doesn't mean with an orchestra," Moore said. "I'm trying to model my songwriting after Brian Wilson, the Beatles, Cole Porter, (George) Gershwin. It's just bringing in influences that I've touched on to some extent."
For the time being, though, Moore is touring solo with his acoustic guitar, which he says has furthered his freedom to explore different songwriting techniques and textures. And the intimate shows seem to further detract from people's opinion of him as a guitar god.
"I don't think guitar playing is my forte," Moore said. "I'm best at a combination of singing, playing guitar and songwriting. I'm just kind of trying to use the guitar in better ways and I'm not interested in showing off as much."
Moore plays the Bar B Lounge in Santa Fe Oct. 10 and The Launchpad, in Albuquerque, with opening act, Blame it on Rachel, adding her own powerful flair to the bill, Oct. 11. Tickets are available through Ticketmaster, 883-7800, or at ticketmaster.com.
Both shows are open to ages 21 and over.
